


Uneasy Truce

by DesertVixen



Category: Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Stranded, Temporary Truce, oh no we are stranded
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 18:48:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17048624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/pseuds/DesertVixen
Summary: Lotor and Allura find themselves stranded and form a temporary truce.





	Uneasy Truce

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Longpig](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Longpig/gifts).



Allura swiped at the blood running into her eyes, and started a scan of the area. She was dismayed when she picked up readings from the strange Doom spacecraft instead of the other Lions. It wasn’t a cruiser or a coffin ship, but something more maneuverable – a design they had never seen. It put her in mind of a single-pilot fighter, like the Tiger Fighters…or the Lions. 

Her navcomp didn’t seem to be working – at least, it wasn’t giving her a location that she recognized. Her distress beacon was also acting strangely, but she hoped that the message was going out. The atmosphere checked out as acceptable, so she told herself she had to check out the other ship. If she’d taken a hard landing in Blue Lion, they might have been hurt as well. It was even possible that there were captives on the ship, although it seemed too small.

That thought got her moving, out of the Lion, pistol in hand. The place did not look familiar at all, but they had at least managed to come down on the edge of a clearing in what looked to be pretty thick woods. There was a cave that looked like it would offer some shelter – as long as nothing else was already living there, Allura thought uneasily.

The ship was eerily quiet. There was a cargo bay too small to transport robeasts, and a cockpit large enough for two pilots. There was only one pilot now. Lotor was slumped awkwardly over a console, one of his arms bent at an unnatural angle. Her initial impulse was to leave him where he was, but Allura told herself that even an enemy deserved some compassion. Plus, she had the strange feeling that there was something wrong about this ship, something that told her it was dangerous.

She couldn’t just leave him like this.

*** 

Everything hurt, Lotor thought, as he opened his eyes and nothing looked familiar. Instead of the inside of his experimental ship, he saw blue sky and dark trees and dark stone.

“You’re awake!” He turned his head and saw Allura sitting there, the right side of her face bruised.

He looked around warily, expecting to see Keith holding a sword to his throat, the other lions, Voltron itself. But he only saw Allura.

He also didn’t see his ship. “What happened?”

“I think someone sabotaged your ship,” Allura said, nodding in the direction of a pile of wreckage. “I pulled you out about fifteen minutes before it exploded.”

It was entirely possible, Lotor told himself. His father was not a huge fan of his idea to create smaller ships opposed to focusing on bigger and better robeasts. “Do you have any idea where we are?”

She shook her head. “My navcomp is either broken or doesn’t recognize our location. The distress beacon seems a little strange as well, but it is sending. Hopefully someone picks it up.”

They were both silent for a moment, realizing that the question of what “someone” picked up the signal might be a thorny one.

Allura broke the silence first. “We will have to wait and see who shows up first.”

Lotor didn’t correct her idea that someone from Doom would be looking for them. Cossack would be, for sure, but he knew that whoever had likely sabotaged his ship had other plans as well. He looked down, and saw the bandages wrapping his right arm. “What happened?”

“You broke your arm in the crash,” she told him. “I did what I could with the first aid kit, but it’s limited. Does it hurt badly?”

“I’ve had worse,” he said curtly, his thoughts still on how they had ended up here...and wondering who would show up first.

*** 

Sharing emergency rations with Lotor over a campfire was not how Allura had expected to spend her evening, but she had to admit it wasn’t bad. Maybe it was because he was injured, but he was pretty subdued. It was relaxed, almost comfortable, she realized, just to sit and talk.

“This is a new experience,” she said. “Not fighting each other.”

“I’m pretty sure you could take me out with my sword arm broken,” Lotor replied, stretching his legs out.

“That’s not what I meant.” Allura gave him a glare. “It’s nice being with you when you’re not trying to enslave my planet or capture me. We don't want to fight, we just want to be left in peace.”

He said nothing, unable to imagine a universe in which Doom was not fighting everyone else.

“And yet, it seems like you could do more, sometimes,” Allura said softly. “Almost like you…let me go.”

“My father won’t rest until he sees Arus destroyed,” Lotor said. He couldn’t tell her that she was right, that he chose not to win because he feared what would happen, that he chose to let her go because he couldn't bear what his father might do to Allura, to Arus. He couldn't bear the thought that he might not be able to protect her.

“You tried to be good once – or at least, you pretended to be good.” Allura took a deep breath. “Maybe you could try again.”

She stood. “Try to get some sleep. I’ll stand watch.”

*** 

When she checked him a few hours later, concerned by the mumbling she heard coming from the pallet he was lying on, Allura was dismayed to discover he was burning up. She had been afraid this might happen.

She knelt beside him, preparing to administer the broad-spectrum antibiotic from the medkit. It occurred to her that his gun belt might come in handy if unexpected company showed up, so she leaned over to hit the release.

Allura was not prepared to be pulled into his arms. He opened his eyes, but they were glazed over with fever. “My princess,” he said in a low, rough whisper, and before she could break free his mouth was on hers. His arms were like iron around her, and Allura was very aware that he had a strong body under the rest of his armor. Finally, finally, she was able to pull away from him. But long after she had given him the antibiotic and covered him with a blanket, she was thinking about being kissed by Lotor.

Wondering what things might be like if he really did turn good, if they could be on the same side instead of enjoying an uneasy truce. Wondering if he really did just let her go sometimes.

She was still wondering about it when the sun came up.

*** 

Lotor sat with his back to the cave wall, watching Allura sleep. She had certainly looked better, with her bruised face and wrinkled uniform, her blonde hair in a loose braid, but he was enjoying the chance to just watch her. He’d been having some intense dreams last night, dreams about actually kissing her, but when he had woken up wet with sweat, he had figured they were just a side effect of the fever. 

Yet, watching her sleep, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew how it felt to kiss her, to pull her against him.

He was wondering how long it would take before help arrived – and just who they would be there to help. They had not spoken about it, maybe because it would require them to acknowledge how very temporary their truce was.

It was late afternoon when the silhouette of a pair of Lions crossed the sky. He watched them circle around to where Allura’s Blue Lion was sitting before leaning down to shake her shoulder.

“Your rescuers have arrived,” he told her.

“Our rescuers,” she corrected sharply. 

“Being put in a jail cell isn’t really much of a rescue.”

She was about to say something when he looked up, and she followed suit. There was another ship silhouette in the sky – a Doom cruiser. “Maybe you won’t need to catch a ride with us after all.”

Putting her hair back up took a moment, and he took advantage of the chance to watch her one last time.

“Princess!” Keith’s voice carried, and Lotor could see the instant that the young knight saw Lotor standing next to Allura, the instant his hand went to his pistol.

“Keith! Lance!” She remained by Lotor’s side as his henchman Cossack came strolling up. “It’s good to see you.”

“Is everything all right?” Keith’s eyes narrowed, taking in her bruised face and Lotor’s broken arm.

“I wouldn’t mind getting home,” she said lightly.

“Fancy meeting you all here,” Cossack’s grating voice made Keith jump slightly, and Allura put her hand on his arm. “Glad to see you’re okay, boss.”

Lotor nodded. They would talk later, when there were no outside ears to hear them. “Let’s get out of here,” he said, before turning to Allura. “Thank you for helping me.”

She smiled at him, blushing a little. “You were pretty good company, actually.”

Cossack and Lotor began to walk away, and he could hear Keith’s raised voice, demanding to know why the princess was just letting them walk away. Her words floated to him on the breeze.

“We had a truce,” she said simply. “Lotor would have done the same for me.”

Maybe he would have, Lotor thought as he walked with Cossack. Maybe he actually would have done the same. 

Too bad they would never know.

**Author's Note:**

> So I hope you like this! I really loved your prompts and letter, even if I couldn't work all of it in. But I think this should scratch your Lotura itch for a little while.
> 
> And yes, although I couldn't quite work it in, I also really disliked how Allura was treated in the original series - hello, she's the princess!


End file.
